Claire knew from her first daughters’ birth that labor could have a huge impact on her mental health and mindset postpartum. She wanted to have a safe, empowering birth experience and to practice trust in herself and her body.
Throughout her pregnancy, she felt curious about exploring home birth. She interviewed midwives within the hospital system, toured various hospitals in her area, and interviewed a number of doula and home birth midwives. She was nervous to commit to home birth, but ultimately felt it was right for her, and something she would regret not trying. It wasn’t until she met Tiffany and Taylor of Dos Midwifery, sisters who practice together as a team of CNM and CPM midwives at home, that she knew she could do it.
Dos Midwifery offered incredibly joyful, trusting and balanced prenatal care. They recommended hypnobabies as an approach for her, and the mindfulness exercises and affirmations really helped her to intentionally relax and build scripts with her partner that worked. She had nausea and cravings throughout her pregnancy and followed her midwives advice to double her protein intake, triple her water intake, and add minerals to her water. Focusing on nutrition and getting enough food worked wonders for her energy, and helped manage other symptoms she was having. Claire dealt with piriformis pain in her hip and down her leg in the second and third trimester. She did acupuncture and stretching to help manage.
Claire worked with an at-home pelvic floor PT to do biofeedback and understand what positions would be best for her in labor. Her pelvic floor PT also gave her good instructions on different positions she could use during each stage of labor to help descend and progress.
When she was 38 weeks along, she had a scare doing kick counts. She didn’t feel any movement for most of the day. Her midwives advised her to go to the hospital and be monitored. After a while baby moved just fine and she was sent home!
Claire prepared her daughter for the arrival of a sibling by reading stories about babies and siblings, talking about signs of labor, and talking about what would stay the same alongside what would change.
One day before his due date, on Claire and her husband Kasey’s 9 year wedding anniversary, she went into labor. She had a peaceful, empowering, just-as-planned birth at home and welcomed her son Everett into the world.
Claire de Leon Bio
Claire de Leon (she/her pronouns) is a communications strategist who builds belonging. She and her partner Kasey live in Long Beach, CA with their two little ones, Octavia and Everett. Claire studied public health and is a champion for birth justice. Together with her sister Claire launched Boop Bead Shop, home to handmade fidget necklaces for parents to keep babies focused while breastfeeding. Claire is also the founder of Fieldnote, a communications strategy consultancy. She is a creative enthusiast who loves flower arranging, playing with natural dyes, and reading. Connect with her on IG @deleonclaire.
Resources
- Claire’s first Birth Hour episode
- Dos Midwifery– my incredible Southern California midwives
- Hypnobirthing
- Pelvic floor PT with bio feedback to identify good pushing positions
- Evidence based birth homebirth resources
- Emma Browning acupuncture– Long Beach, CA
- Lovevery Montessori sibling books on introducing a new baby
- Boop Bead Shop-– fidget necklaces for breastfeeding
- Please reach out to me if you’d like my birth prep google doc, I’m happy to share!
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I love how you shared preparing your young daughter in addition to your own body. That resonated with me well and I am so grateful for the resources to help my own daughter transition to big sister! Thank you. Also, congratulations on a beautiful homebirth–I think “exactly as planned” is a pretty cool birth story!